What is Written
by bookwormwithanattitude
Summary: Thor finds out what happened to little Loki. Short fic in reaction to JIM 645. Not really a fix fic, don't worry. I'm not used to writing Thor and the Manchester gods probably don't work that way at all, I probably got a lot of things wrong since there's so much I don't know about the characters, but just ignore it I needed to do this.


Loki had betrayed him. Of course Loki had betrayed him. Everyone had said it was inevitable. Loki himself had told him it had been a ruse from the beginning.

"I was never that child, brother. He never existed except in your naïve and gullible heart. There was never any starting over for me."

Loki had said it with such sincerity, such conviction, that there was no way Thor could believe him.

Something had happened to that child. That Loki he had known. Yes, he knew the Loki that had betrayed him and hated him _was _Loki- he knew his brother well enough to recognize him. But he also knew his brother well enough to know he had many selves.

When had things shifted? His mind kept traveling back to that conversation.

"_Thor…if I go bad. Do it. Just do it. Promise me."_

Thor was not entirely stupid, whatever his brother thought. He had wondered what bought that on. And ever since that moment, he'd felt a slight shift between them. Thor had assumed that maybe Loki was figuring out what to do with his answer "No. Never." That maybe things were evolving between them- that maybe Loki was growing up.

But not growing up in _this _fashion.

Something had happened to Loki.

What had happened?

He couldn't expect the truth from his brother himself. But his brother's weakness had always been in underestimating him.

Loki had broken the Stark Phone and cleared all the search history and any trace of what he'd done on it.

"I hated that thing," he'd claimed, eyes gleaming. "It stank of Midgard."

_That_ Thor knew was a lie. He could see Loki faking pure affection for Thor and taking him in- yes, that had happened before. But the little boy's infatuation with the phone, that could not be faked. The Loki that was here now may hate that phone, but the boy had loved it.

Stark had been unable to find anything. That had been expected. It was likely Loki had used magic to undo anything his younger self might have done.

But there was one race of gods that would never forget anything entered into anything electronic.

"Ah, you finally came," Master Wilson said. And he gave Thor the message Loki had typed in, but never sent.

_Brother-_

_You deserve to know the truth, but I don't think it will have any credibility coming from me. Therefore, if you feel inclined to find an unbiased, irrefutable source, seek out the Teller and read my tome. _

_Don't be sad. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you and will doubtless cause you again. But I had a lot of fun while it lasted._

_-Loki_

To reach the Teller, Thor went through a great many trials too complex and daunting to be recounted in the present narrative- all that matter if that no trail could be as complex and daunting as having Loki as a brother, so Thor found it all quite easy in comparison.

He found Loki's tome.

And though Thor (while not nearly as unintelligent or bad at reading as his brother thought) generally didn't have the patience for long tales, he read every word of this one.

He was a bit touched and surprised at the intensity of his brother's struggle at some points, but found himself often rolling his eyes at his antics in exasperated affection and familiarity. And then he reached the end.

And of course he wept.

He stumbled out of the Teller's lair, thoughts swirling.

_Brother, only you could betray yourself, hurt yourself, so deeply…._

_I should have known. He went through all of this alone. I could have protected him. If he'd told me everything from the beginning, could I have predicted what would happen, though? Could I have made a difference?_

_I could have tried. _

Thor roared suddenly, smashing his hammer into the ground. Debris flew everywhere, thunder crashed and the sky roiled. The weapon recoiled and skittered pathetically on the ground.

Thor sank to his knees, picked up the hammer, bracing it in his hands. He rested his forehead against the cool metal.

_I have protected the world so many times. Why is it I can never protect my brother? _

_That little boy has been overwritten, erased as if he never existed…_

_But…_

_He did exist._

_He's still written. I just read his story, did I not?_

Thor blinked up at the sky.

"As long as I remember you, you still exist in some form. I believe that. You can't erase any part of yourself, Loki. Not truly."

"I remember you," he repeated again loudly. "I will _never_ forget you. Nor will I let anyone forget." He took a deep breath. "Especially you, brother."

Thor stood up slowly, wiping his eyes and hefting up his hammer. And then he walked home, carrying the Loki that was with him.


End file.
